Xbox Series X Internet Trolls Seem To Fake Memes Problems

Microsoft’s latest next-gen console, the Xbox Series X (along with its little cousin, the Xbox Series S), has arrived. And with that comes a whole bunch of internet crooks trying to trick people into believing that the new console is in the throes of terrible trouble.

You might, for example, have seen clips circulating the internet that featured the Xbox Series X literally smoking. The messages would have you believe that the blazing X-series graphics are so demanding they can set an Xbox on fire, but the reality is much simpler than Xbox consoles spontaneously igniting. What really seems to be happening is that people are blasting vape smoke in their new $ 500 consoles to make troll fans look like a fire on social media.

(Please note that it’s probably not a good idea to intentionally fill your brand new console with water vapor either, for what I hope are obvious reasons.)

The meme has gone far enough that Microsoft itself has it worthy of an answer:

The hoax is vaguely plausible. Microsoft faced the “red ring of death” problem in the Xbox 360 era over ten and a half years ago, and the idea of ​​gadgets catching fire is not completely unknown. For example, Ring just recalled some of its video doorbells today, and there’s the infamous Samsung Galaxy Note 7 debacle which saw the entire product being recalled and taken off the market due to fears that catch fire. But gadgets that tend to catch fire are usually battery powered, with the risk of fire usually coming from the onboard battery – not something you would have to worry about with an Xbox Series X.

Likewise, another viral article has circulated claiming that the Xbox Series X’s fan is so powerful that the drafts it produces can hang a ping-pong ball in the air above the console, like a kind of kinetic sculpture.

Here, too, there is real science that makes the possibility plausible. You may have even seen a similar demonstration in a college science class, where a hair dryer is used to levitate a ping pong ball (thanks to a little physics – in particular, Bernoulli’s Principle, which describes the relationship between the speed and pressure of a flowing fluid).

And while this science is real (and works with something that pushes air out as fast as a hair dryer), Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like the Xbox Series X fan – important as it is – actually emits the kind of speed needed to hang the ball.

Given how new the Xbox Series X is, it is possible that issues will arise, just like any other new hardware. There seem to be isolated incidents of disk drive problems, for example. But like any other viral internet hoax, it’s always good to take problem reports with a healthy grain of salt, no matter how convincing they are.

Update 6:38 p.m. ET: Added Microsoft’s own tweet on this.